Mouth-watering recipes to munch on – and they're healthy, so munch away!

Paleo

Egg dishes hold a special place in my heart. I know that sounds strange, considering that eggs tend to be the primary source of protein for many folks out there, especially for breakfast. But in my family, both my mom and sister grew up hating eggs. Rarely did we eat omelettes, scrambled eggs, quiches, frittatas, or casseroles. And I grew up before brunch was the hottest thing around and I was unaware of the glory of eggs benedict. But among the many things my dad and I had in common, one thing that stands out is eating eggs. Weird, right?

If my dad and I were home alone for dinner, he’d make us an omelette to share. If he was feeling fancy on the weekend, he’d cook us up some eggs. In my high school years, I discovered that my mom’s ramekins were the perfect size and shape to microwave eggs and use them in homemade egg sandwiches — and you guessed it, my dad and I loved to make them together.

When my dad passed away unexpectedly in 2012, not only did I lose my dad, mentor, and friend, I lost some of those “just for us” traditions.

As you can imagine, times change, and my sister now eats eggs with the rest (and best) of us. I’m still working on building her up to a runny yolk, but for now, as long as there’s enough hot sauce, she’ll eat it. My mom, on the other hand, will only eat eggs if they’re in a casserole with equal parts potatoes and cheese. We’re a work in progress.

One of my favorite things about eggs – sentimental value aside – is how versatile they are. You can fry up an egg to top a hamburger, scramble some eggs with a load of veggies, or blend up an egg with oil to make mayo. The incredible, edible egg! (No, I’m not sponsored by eggs.) And because eggs can be used in so many applications, I find it hard to get bored of them!

During my first round of Whole30, I loved getting veggies in first thing in the morning. It started with some seriously loaded omelettes, but wanted something that could be prepped ahead of time and was relatively high volume. Thus the breakfast salad was born!

Your tupperware is your canvas! Anything you have chilling in the fridge can be added to your salad, as long as it tastes good to you! And there are few things more satisfying than knowing you started your day on a healthy and wholesome foot.

Like this:

One of the biggest objections I hear against starting a Whole30 is “There are too many rules.” That makes total sense — listing off the ingredients someone following Whole30 can have (meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, some seeds, some nuts) is easier than listing what they can’t have (added sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, soy).

But when you look at the program overall, there are only three rules:

No added sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, or soy.

No recreation of baked goods, junk foods, or treats.

No weighing or measuring yourself for the full 30 days.

While these rules may be hard, they’re also pretty clear. Where things get tough is when you start diving deeper and reading about the meal template, only using bars as “emergency food,” eating everything organic and local, no smoothies, etc. That’s where rules vs. recommendations comes in.

This post on the Whole30 website has been really helpful for me while navigating all the steadfast rules of a true Whole30, while not getting too tangled in having the “perfect” Whole30. Let’s be honest: there’s no such thing as a perfect Whole30. Should I say that again for everyone in the back? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT WHOLE30. Follow the three big rules, and tackle the rest as best you can.

This whole long preamble was just to say — if you’re snacking on Whole30, that’s okay. It might be worth exploring increasing the size of your meals if you’re always on the verge of a hungry breakdown and gnawing on an RXbar, but for day-to-day life, snack away. You might run in to folks on the interwebz that think you’re wrong, or that you aren’t practicing “the spirit” of Whole30. I have some choice words for those folks, and they aren’t fit to print. Live your life. Live your best life, but live your life.

So, what the heck do you snack on during Whole30 if you can’t have chips?! There are lots of fun, creative ideas out there — here are some of my favorite (easy) snacks!

An apple or banana with an approved nut butter (add some cinnamon and/or shredded unsweetened coocnut for extra punch)